WHITEBAIT. 
115 
the ministers of the Cabinet go down the river in state to 
indulge in this relaxation. 
The Whitebait has not been recognised as an inhabitant of 
the open sea, although for about half the year it is there only 
it could be found; and it cannot live even for a short time in 
fresh water. Yet it seems to delight in what is brackish, and 
in it a fishery is carried on with a small net, somewhat on the 
principle of the stow-net for sprats, being suspended from the 
side of a boat in the tideway in a small depth of water. This 
net is kept open against the current with rods, and is not 
lifted out of the water when the fish are to be taken on board; 
but as it tapers and is only shut at the end with a cord, this 
portion is opened and the fish removed from time to time, after 
which the net is again left to float on the current. These fish 
usually begin to come up on the tide at the end of March, 
or early in April; but in the year 1864, they were caught 
at the very beginning of March, and the fishery does not end 
before the conclusion of September. 
It was formerly supposed that the Whitebait was the early 
stage of the growth of the Allis Shad, which then was also 
confounded with the Twait; and Donovan has represented this 
latter for the former. It was also believed that it was to be 
found only in the Thames, which last supposition could be 
regarded in no other light than as inconsistent with the former, 
since the Shad was known to shed its spawn in several of 
the other rivers of England. But the belief of its being only 
met with in the Thames is now also known to be an error; 
and Dr. Parnell discovered it to be not rare in the Firth of 
Forth, while in the south and west it has been obtained in 
Devonshire and Cornwall. I have been favoured with examples 
from the Exe, by Dr. Scott, of Exeter, and have also obtained 
them from the Fowey, in Cornwall; and there is scarcely a 
doubt that if looked for they might be found in every important 
river in the British Islands. Cuvier says they also exist in 
Germany, but we conclude that they are limited to districts 
where the climate docs not extend beyond the borders of moderate 
heat and cold. 
The time of spawning is supposed to be in and through the 
summer; and the very young are mingled with the more fully 
grown, so long as they continue to be caught in the river, a 
